Menu Moday

Monday: Baked Salmon in foil packets, salad, steamed broccoli. This recipe is very close to the one I use from her cookbook. It is sooo yummy and easy!

Tuesday: Grilled Basil Chicken (if it is not too cold to grill :), salad, easy rice pilaf.

Wednesday: Chili, green chili cornbread

Thursday: Crock Pot roast with veggies, gravy and some kind of roll

Friday: Hamburgers and french fries

Saturday: Homemade pizza (the best quick dough recipe)or leftovers

Sunday: Super Bowl party with small group!! I'm making toffee bars. Can't wait!

Juice Alternative

I was reading Money Saving Mom today and she had a great idea: serve herbal fruit tea instead of juice.

Why didn't I think of that?!

I don't know about you, but we get stuck in the water, juice and milk rut around here. Since I am a good southern girl, we all usually have decaf ice tea with dinner. Lightly sweetened of course. However, I have never thought about keeping a container of herbal fruit tea on hand for Matt. This would be soooo much cheaper and help stretch the juice longer.

Since we are on the topic of tea, my favorite hot tea is decaf Constant Comment by Bigelow. It is a spicy orange tea and the flavor is so good that I usually do not add a sweetener. I replaced my afternoon cup of coffee with this and sometimes I have it after dinner to help curb my cravings.

My Favortie Laundry Product

Who likes doing laundry? Not me! (Didn't I write about this a few months ago?) Awhile back my mother-in-law introduced me to a fabulous little product that actually gets me excited about doing laundry.

Diva scented Glamorous wash by Tyler Candle Company.

I LOVE this stuff!! Of course it is not all natural or good for the earth but it is definitely good for my mood. Since this wash is a little pricey, I only use it for my bedding and occasionally my couch cushion covers. It's amazing how potent this detergent is. When washing my sheets, I only use a cap full mixed with whatever regular detergent I have on hand and my entire bedroom will smell like it for about a week.

Do you have a favorite household product/cleaner that motivates you? If so, leave a comment because I would love to know.

**FYI, if you do a google search, make sure you type glamorous wash and not diva wash! I started with diva wash and ended up with results for diva cup wash. If you know what this is, then I am sure you are having a good laugh.

Baby Days

I spent some time in Matt's room this morning purging, organizing, and cleaning. I threw a bunch of stuff in the trash, bagged up donations, and switched out toys between the closet and bookshelf. Hopefully, when he comes home, he will be thrilled and want to play with his "new" toys.

While I was cleaning, I came across his baby book and first year scrapbook. Of course, I had to spend a few minutes reminiscing and thinking back to the baby years. I cannot believe he will be six in almost a month!

Just a note to any new mom reading this. Enjoy them right now. Don't play the "I can't wait until..." game. You know what I am talking about right? I can't wait until they walk. I can't wait until they talk. I can't wait until they get off my boob! Snuggle your baby close and wrap your heart around the moment God has given you right now.

I am going to keep this short. Otherwise, you will have a sappy sorry mess of a post to read.

If you would like to see my cutie-pa-tootie baby boy, check out this video.

Two Week Menu

Wednesday: Pinto Beans with ham and corn bread

Thursday: Fiesta Salad using leftover pintos

Friday: Hot Dogs, chips, and slaw

Saturday: Homemade pizza and salad

Sunday: Pioneer Woman's Beef Stew

Monday: Pork chops, homemade mac n' cheese, salad or something green

Tuesday: Spaghetti

Wednesday: Paula Dean's Chicken n' Dumplings

Thursday: Paula Dean's Sausage and grits and something green

Friday: Paula Dean's Beef stroganoff (do you see a Paula Dean pattern??)

Saturday: Leftovers!!    

 

Happy Mama Moment

Last night Matt and I were playing with Lego's in his room while listening to the radio. We typically listen to KSBJ, a local Christian station. He calls it the Jesus music station. There was a song playing and Matt asked me if that was true. I wasn't even paying attention to the music, so I asked him what he was talking about. He said, "The world is crying out. Can that really happen? How can the world cry out?"

I had to explain to him that it meant people on earth crying out from hurting, not the actual ground. It was an expression. I gave him different examples but I think they were too abstract. Then we talked about the earthquake in Haiti. He has seen so many pictures and heard us talk about it so much that I figured he could understand the point. I tried to explain that when it happened, there were thousands of people crying out to God for help. He understood my point, but then he said something that really surprised me. He said "Well it's good that God talked to you and Daddy's hearts so you could go help them."

Wow. Sometimes I wonder what's going on (if anything other than Lego's and Wii) in his little head and then he says something like that.

Me? Really?

Anyone sign up for a gym membership at the first of the year? Well, we were the weirdos who canceled their membership. Richard convinced me to quit the gym and start running with him.

Now, let me stop you right here and say I am not a runner. Never have been. When we had to run laps outside in junior high PE, I would hide at the bottom of the hill to rest so my teacher couldn't see me. I have never been a fan of running and haven't been able to last longer then about three minutes.

About two weeks ago I finally started. We bought me a pair of new shoes since my old ones were worn out (that was my number one excuse when he would ask me) and Richard downloaded the Nike Plus app to my phone. The first couple of times we did it as a family. Matt rode his bike, Richard ran next to him, and I trailed waaaaay in the back. Last Saturday, I got the bright idea to run without Richard while Matt rode his bike.

Big mistake.

I thought I was going to die by the end. Poor Matt had to keep stopping because I would end up so far behind. Needless to say, it was a very short outing.

This past Monday I finally hit a milestone, I ran for a solid half mile! I was so pumped. I know a half mile doesn't sound like much, but it is for me. The funniest part was after I ended my workout session with my Nike app, Tracy Morgan's voice came on my phone and congratulated me. He said something about getting a glass of chocolate milk. I had no idea this was going to happen and was very, very surprised! I'm sure the look on my face was priceless.

I am proud to announce that I had another break through tonight.

Drum roll please....

I ran for one whole mile!! WoooHooo!!! When I hit my mile, I was all but dancing down the street. My neighbors were out and I wanted to run up and hug them and scream "I just ran a mile!" I decided to walk past them and wave instead. I did jump up and down with Richard and chant "I ran a mile" like a fool for a few minutes. I am so excited because this is something I have wanted to do, but never felt like I could.

My goal is to run the Blue Bell 5K Fun Run in April. The great thing about this race is that you get to eat all the ice cream you want at the end!

Weekly Menu - The Turkey Edition

I know I am completely ignoring the holiday wrap up post, but it seems like the only way for me to get back to blogging. Writing about the holidays feels really overwhelming and I am not sure where to start. Writing out my menu seems much more manageable and way more beneficial . I know my boys will thank me since I have a plan.

I bought a 13# turkey back at Thanksgiving for $3. I decided to get the bad boy out of the freezer and finally tackle roasting a turkey. Did I mention I have never roasted a turkey on my own? I can decorate cakes, make cake pops until the cows come home, and bake awesome crusty french bread from scratch, but I cannot cook a turkey.

Anyways, I perused through the Food Network website until I found a simple recipe. Since it was pretty much like roasting a chicken, it was crowned the winner. The recipe was simple and easy. If you can roast a chicken, you can do this.

I am pleased to announce, it turned out beautiful! And it tasted great! I was a little worried I was going to have a National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation turkey. Remember when they carved into the gorgeous turkey, it cracked open and was empty from overcooking.

It's not the most flattering picture, but I wanted proof that I finally cooked a turkey.

So, with no further ado (is that even how you spell it??), I give you my leftover turkey menu.

Monday - Roast turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, and salad

Tuesday - Turkey Pot Pie (this was a first too and it was more of turkey pot soup) the recipe can be found in the January Food Network issue

Wednesday - green turkey enchiladas, salad and bacon sauteed green beans

Thursday - Rotel turkey soup: I am winging this and Richard is helping because this is his brain child. We are going to boiled down the carcass, get the bones out, all normal chicken soup ingredients and a can of Rotel.

Friday - Homemade B-B-Q Turkey Pizza and salad

Saturday - Hopefully, a really good Mexican restaurant. But, if we must, turkey club sandwiches and oven fries.